Genesis refuses to disclose Fire Risk Assessments. How can we make our homes safe?

Residents know that Genesis says one thing and does another. They have often proclaimed that they take fire safety seriously – particularly after the Grenfell disaster.

This doesn’t exactly square with our research which seems to suggests that the London Fire Brigade served Genesis with more Fire Safety Enforcement Notices since 2015 than any other homes provider in Greater London, whether council or housing association.

Some councils and housing associations were not served with any Fire Safety Notices – proving that ‘zero enforcement notices’ is achievable if fire safety is taken seriously.

Genesis refuse to disclose Fire Risk Assessments

Genesis is required to do its own fire safety assessments (FRAs).

In a letter in October 2017, Genesis refused to publish them on the grounds that the FRAs change over time. Their ‘expert’ contractor is that well known health and safety expert company……..Savills.

Genesis say that:

“Savills did not produce a single ‘all encompassing’ report. They produced FRAs for each block reviewed. The FRAs are not published as they are constantly being updated – as the work is done to address any issues raised by the report, the associated risk will necessarily change, making the relevant FRA become out of date. Consequently, publishing these reports would not give a true picture of the risks. Genesis will keep this under review.”

One recent request for disclosure of a FRA came from a Genesis resident who is a qualified member of the Institute of Safety & Health (IOSH), the main body for professional health and safety experts in the UK. This resident was also refused.

Hackney Council has released its fire safety assessments. It credits its residents with intelligence enough to understand them whilst also proving that it has nothing to hide.

2,493 Genesis blocks need Fire Risk Assessments

And how many residents might be in the situation of not knowing about the FRA of their own home? In October when Genesis wrote refusing disclosure of the FRAs for all its blocks they said that:

“Genesis defines ‘high rise’ as any building above six storeys. We have identified 2,493 other blocks which require FRAs (which, by definition, are not ‘high rise’ although equally they may not be ‘multi-storey’ as these blocks will include sheltered/care schemes).”

Only three block have sprinklers

In reply to our question about sprinklers, Genesis told us that only 3 of their blocks of flats have a sprinkler system.

What about communal fire systems when Genesis sells one flat in a block or house?

One consequence of Genesis selling off social rent homes is that the new private owners can disconnect from the communal fire alarm system. Did Genesis do a risk assessment of possible problems arising from their sell offs? And did they not not spot that this could happen? Or did they decide that it was worth the risk?

So, lots of questions and lots of work for Genesis Residents to do to force Genesis to act properly and disclose Fire Risk Assessments to their residents.

Join us in the fight for disclosure of the Fire Risk Assessments

If you are keen to help on this campaign please join up to Genesis Residents (see the website for how to join)

It's been a tough year for many and especially in the area of housing . The National leasehold campaign have gone from strength to strength. We know turkeys won't vote for Xmas but we are not giving up this fight.

It's been a tough year for many and especially in the area of housing . The National leasehold campaign have gone from strength to strength. We know turkeys won't vote for Xmas but we are not giving up this fight.

Leasehold remains a HOT 🔥 topic in parliament. NHG are building new flats all over London for sale on a Leasehold basis. We have to help get the message out their that buying these leasehold properties is not actually ownership.

The campaign is gaining alot of traction and is going from strength to strength.

Each week we collect the most important and relevant Housing Law news, articles and judgments, compile them into one email and send them to our subscribers. We do all the hard work so you don't have to! To subscribe, simply click here and fill in the form. Below is our archive of Lime Legal's Housin...

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There is a national scandal going on affecting all flat owners and most new build house owners and yet many people do not realise they are caught up in this scandal until they come to sell or receive a letter with details of their new freeholder. The freeholds to our homes sold on as income streams for faceless overseas investors using us as cash cows for eternity. There is an enquiry taking place currently and the Law Commision has put forward their recommendations to the government for reform but so many people are not even aware of this scandal yet so not able to participate in the consultations!Please join the National Leasehold Campaign if you want to learn more about this tenure, your rights and the campaign for abolishment and replacing with Commonhold for flats and freehold for houses. #leaseholdscandal ...